Tesco's Ad Screens; Visible Measures App Ads

There was a time when scanning technology for the purposes of ad serving would have seemed invasive, but GigaOM’s David Meyer points out that’s no longer the case. Tesco is taking advantage of OptimEyes’ technology by installing ad screens that also have a camera for scanning customers nearby, and then serving them demographically appropriate ads. The company says no personal information is collected and no photos or video are taken or stored, so Meyer says this is not one for the privacy advocates to get worked up about. Read more.

Visible Measures App Ads

Visible Measures has a video-app ad network of sorts, according to PandoDaily, which details the VM’s content network plans. The app network delivers algo-influenced content through Samsung smart TVs: “[Visible Measures] makes its money by helping content creators find more viewers for their video. One of its lead products is Contagion, a predictive modeling tool that lets publishers see, with a claimed 90% accuracy, how much money they need to spend and legwork they need to do in order to reach a certain number of viewers.” Read more.

Data Success

In a sign of the times, Lotame is reporting record success and expansion as data-driven marketing becomes mainstream. "It has been a huge year not only for Lotame but for the DMP and ad-tech space as a whole," said Andy Monfried, founder and CEO of Lotame. "The surge in DMP adoption is evidence that publishers and marketers on a global scale are realizing the impact that leveraging Big Data and an audience-driven approach can deliver in terms of revenue, efficiency and performance." Read the release.

Programmatic Publishing

An IAB and Winterberry Group study found that 85% of advertisers and 72% of publishers are using programmatic auction strategies. That number is expected to grow as advertisers and publishers get more comfortable with the concept of programmatic, but there are still hurdles to overcome with brand safety. “The rise of programmatic buying and the inherent operational efficiencies it promises offers a positive sea change for the entire digital industry,” said Patrick Dolan, EVP and COO for IAB. “But, if we’re going to take full advantage of programmatic’s buying’s [sic] potential, it is incumbent upon the industry to overcome barriers to its success.” Read the release.

Evolving TV

A new trend has emerged in television, called delayed viewing (it’s like time-shifting’s brother), and it’s changing the way networks and advertisers think about the medium. The New York Times’ Bill Carter points out that networks only get paid for up to three days of a show being viewed, due to the emergence of digital recording technology, but that will soon be extended to seven days. “These are our viewers,” said Kevin Reilly, chairman of entertainment for the Fox Broadcasting Company. “It’s not as though they are lesser viewers or negligible viewers.” The next step for networks will be tackling streaming video online, which currently isn’t rated or measured. Read more.

Programmatic Dictionary

Many attempts are being made to define programmatic, but there’s still a lot of confusion in the advertising community. Adweek’s Mike Shields has put together a seven-page primer, attempting to explain what is currently known as “programmatic.” He concludes that there’s no clear consensus yet. But the two things that everyone seems to agree on is that programmatic is only going to get bigger, and it’s here to stay. Read more.

RPTV

Revenue Per Timeline View (RPTV). The New York Times’ Mark Scott picks over the Twitter S-1 regulatory filing and notes weakness outside the US when it comes to ad revenues. He observes, “Put another way, Twitter had $2.58 in revenue for every 1,000 timeline views in the United States in the third quarter, compared with just 36 cents in the rest of the world, according to regulatory filings. A timeline view is when users visit their own pages that show all the tweets from people they follow.” Read more.

Etail Boom

Ecommerce companies in China are gearing up for 11/11, otherwise known as Single’s Day, which is a day dedicated to online shopping, according to Ad Age. Companies produce deals and exclusive coupons, much like Cyber Monday in the US. Last year the activity caused payment system failures at some banks as the Chinese middle class cozied up to the idea of online shopping. Now, more Western companies plan to take part in the one-day sales frenzy, including Microsoft, Gap and Toys R Us. "We have an ambitious sales target, up to a month and a half's worth of sales in a single day," said Julien Chiavassa, Asia Pacific regional digital and ecommerce head for Clarins. Read more.